Thanksgiving Simple Swaps for Food Allergies & Sensitivities
by Christina Meyer-Jax, Tastemaker in Residence
Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash
Cooking during the holidays can feel pretty full-on at times. To add to it we might get the curveball of requests for gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and vegan options in our meal planning. While it might seem like you need to be a short-order cook, there are some simple substitutions to traditional favorites that streamline this process.
The key to planning for guests with multiple food allergies, sensitivities, or food preferences is to make it “free-from” those items as much as possible. This allows everyone to enjoy and avoids the need to make separate batches of things. Choosing delicious recipes and great ingredients ensure a great end product.
For vegan and vegetarian guests, a strategy is to create a base dish that is plant-based. Then have animal-based items on the side for your omnivore guests to add to the dish if they so choose.
Here are some swaps for common ingredients in holiday recipes that accommodate for food allergies or avoidances:
Gluten-Free
1. Use an all-purpose gluten-free flour in place of wheat flour in recipes. I like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup brands. They are so good; your guests won’t know the difference.
2. Use gluten-free grains or starchy vegetables as your base in recipes. Quinoa, Rice, Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin are all gluten-free and work well in fall/winter recipes.
3. Buy a gluten-free pie crust, make a graham cracker crust (see recipe below) or go crust free!
Dairy-Free
1. Choose a dairy alternative when recipes call for milk. Rice, oat, hemp milk cover the bases to stay nut-free as well. But you could use almond, soy, or cashew milk too.
2. Choose dairy-free cheese or yogurts in recipes. I like the Daiya brand which is widely available at most stores.
3. Use plant-based oils or fruit purees in recipes that call for butter
*Choosing these items also help you with making the recipe vegan-friendly.
Nut Free
1. The most obvious approach is to avoid using nuts or nut butter in recipes.
2. If you really need to use a recipe that has nuts as part of it, you can sub out sunflower, pumpkin, or watermelon seed butter for most people. Check with your guest however as some people may also have a seed allergy.
3. If the recipe has nuts as part of the crunch factor, you could sub out roasted seeds or roasted quinoa.
I’m thankful for these go-to recipes below to cover the bases for all! Cheers to a great day of gratitude and eating ahead!
Graham Cracker Crust for Everyone (GF, DF, Nut Free, Vegan)
All-inclusive Sweet Potato Casserole (GF, DF, Vegan)